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Carbon Monoxide Poisons 4 In Weymouth After Car Was Left On

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WEYMOUTH (CBS) – A Weymouth couple thanks God they and their grandchildren are alive after a carbon monoxide scare at their home. “It’s unthinkable, you know,” B.D. Nayak said standing in his driveway. Sunday night, he, his wife and their two grandkids, ages 10 and 7, came home from dinner. He parked his newer Nissan Altima in the garage, which is on the home’s lower level.

But what he didn’t realize at the time, is he’d left the car, which has a push button ignition to start and stop it, running. “I thought I pushed it off,” he said. Thankfully, the car was near empty. “It had a little bit of gas and thank God it ran out. Had it been more we would’ve been in trouble.” It ended up being bad enough.

Monday morning, Nayak was painting and began feeling dizzy and worried he was having heart trouble. Not long after an ambulance took him away from the home, the children started getting sick and his wife passed out. Their son-in-law called 911 and discovered the source. “He looked at the tailpipe and the hood and knew that was the problem,” he explained, adding that the hood was still warm.

Weymouth Fire Chief Keith Stark said by the time firefighters arrived the levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas, were life-threatening. “They brought out their 4-gas meter and immediately the meter read about 400 parts per million,” Stark said. Anything above 10 parts per million is considered dangerous. “I feel their very lucky and thank God they could call and we arrived on scene in time and got them out of their house,” Stark added.

The Nayaks had no idea there was a problem because the home where they’ve lived 37 years did not have carbon monoxide detectors. “It’s a cheap life insurance policy for you and your family,” the Chief said. And it’s the law. The devices should be placed within 10 feet of bedrooms and if you have a garage under a living area, one should be placed on that level as well.

Mr. Nayak says the lack of detectors was an oversight on his part. He’s since installed them on both of the homes levels. He feels terrible about what happened, but hopes his story serves as a reminder to other homeowners. “The main thing is to have the detectors. That’s the important thing,” he said.

Nayak and his grandchildren were treated and released from the hospital Monday. His wife came home on Tuesday after being transferred from South Shore Hospital to Mass General in Boston. Although there are some residual effects, all are doing well. “We’re lucky to be alive,” Nayak said.